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12/20/2019

How Gen Z is Redefining the Rock Star CEO

Young peoples’ protests and preferences will change future leaders' behaviors

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” So said Socrates sometime during the fourth century BC.

We’ve used “Millennial” as a synonym for “young person” for so long that it’s easy to forget that every generation graduates, gets jobs and grows up like those before them. So, over the last month, I’ve spent some time getting to know the new “young person”—Gen Z—and I think they are going to change capitalism as we know it.

Gen Z refers to those born between 1997 and 2010. They are the most diverse generation to date. The vast majority support same-sex marriage, transgender rights and gender equality. They are more educated than previous generations but also more susceptible to stress and depression. And, why shouldn’t they be? They are worried about mass shootings on campus, calcification of the oceans, rising college tuition, housing costs and a future where robots will likely be smarter and faster than humans.